Too Little, Too Late?
by Snikrap32
Summary: Troy and Gabriella are older and living separate lives... Gabriella has a new career and Troy has something else... but can they forget each other and live their own lives or can they try again and make it work? Or is it too little, too late?
1. Living Separate Lives

**NOTE: I have changed the title! This was formerly called… 'Keeping it Together'… credit to ****-DuHsoHaRDCOrE-HaRDCOrE X3-**** for help with the name change!**

**Hi everyone! This is a new story I've started… tell me what you think in a review! Also I'm going away for a few days and won't be able to update so be sure to review so that I'll have inspiration to continue when I get back… :)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own HSM or any of the HSM characters that might be featured in this story.**

Chapter 1: Living Separate Lives 

It was a sunny day in Albuquerque and Gabriella couldn't help but smile as she looked out the window to see a cloudless sky… _'What a good day to start the rest of my life!'_ Gabriella graduated from university about a month ago and she could now be considered a fully licensed doctor... Today was to be her first day of work at a doctor's practice.

Gabriella had done well at school, earning several offers from high paying, prestigious practices all the way to California, even before she'd graduated… She would have been paid a bundle and she would be employed to help all… of course the word 'all' can be used very loosely in this scenario as it really denoted only those who could afford their outstanding fees. Gabriella was still naïve about the reality of the real world… she was still of the noble opinion that all doctors who entered the profession, did so with the main agenda of helping and healing the sick… and was in fact slightly offended that anyone believed she could be swayed from her motive by money.

In some ways she feared that taking such a job would cause her to eventually lose sight of why she'd joined the profession in the first place… and for these reasons, Gabriella turned down _all_ the offers and took a job as a temporary replacement at a practice situated in Albuquerque… It wasn't a secured job… it was only temporary at the moment, but she'd always loved it here… she'd spent some of her best teenage memories in this town… and besides her mother still lived here.

Gabriella smiled slightly to herself, sipping a hot coffee and continuing to look out the window… there were a lot of memories in this town… a lot of memories with _him…_ _'I wonder what he's doing now or where he is now… Does he still think of me… or am I just a distant memory…? _She sighed quietly to herself… it had been 5 years since they'd last seen or heard from each other, and their split hadn't been on friendly terms. She wondered where he was, what he was doing… she thought about him all the time… _'I wonder if he thinks of me…' _Gabriella shook her head immediately at this thought, _'Don't be ridiculous! It's been 5 years… why would he still think of you the way you think of him? … it's not like you were anything really special… you are just…'_

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"Gabriella…" was the faint mumble that escaped Troy's lips as his eyes slowly opened to a blurry reality, that same day. He sat up slowly, rubbing his eyes and squinting as his room slowly came into focus.

He'd been dreaming about Gabriella… again. He almost always did. He thought he was over her … no he was _sure _he was over her… _'How could I not be? It has been five years…' _he looked over at a picture of the two of them, young and happy, that he kept beside his bed,_ 'it doesn't feel that long though, it still feels fresh… but then again, what can I do if she visits my dreams almost every night!'_. They were good dreams too, that's what made it all the harder... Dreams about them happy together, laughing and smiling. Sometimes there would be kids, other times it would just be the two of them, apparently living in happy bliss…

Last night it had been a dream of what looked like a wedding night… it looked like it could be _their _wedding night… and Troy couldn't help grinning at what had happened in that one! He blushed at the very thought of it… and shook his head trying to snap himself out of it.

'_Stop it Troy! Get yourself together man! It's over between you two… so just let it go!" _Troy shook his head, knowing his brain was right… but then again, he'd already known that for some time and yet he still had these dreams…

Troy looked over at his digital clock radio. The time read 6:03am. Shaking his head one more time, in a vain effort to push Gabriella's image from his mind, Troy got up and pulled on a pair of track pants, a hooded jumper and some trainers. He grabbed a bottle of water from the refrigerator on his way out and shutting the door behind him, he went off on his morning jog.

Troy jogged on and on, not taking in any of the houses or people or dogs or anything, that he passed… his mind was still on Gabriella… _'I've got to stop thinking about her! It's getting a little bit creepy… I mean it has been five years… why can't I let her go? I _have_ to let her go! I can't keep doing this, I can't keep thinking about her… it's not healthy and I know it…' _Troy shook his head again, trying to clear his thoughts, but it just wasn't working, _'… besides Troy, you've got Abbey now… you should be thinking of her! She's all that matters to you, remember?' _Troy smiled as he thought of Abbey… _his _Abbey… how could he allow himself to be so caught up in memories of Gabriella, when he had Abbey to occupy all his time?

Troy soon found himself, back home where he started… he looked down at his watch and was surprised to find it was already 7:22am… _'Oh wow! Is it that time already? I better go in and wake up Abbey… I'm sure she'll still be asleep…'_

Troy tread softly through the house and up the stairs, slipping gently into the bedroom where Abbey lay still asleep. He walked across to the bed, smiling as he looked down at her, sleeping peacefully. Despite whatever circumstances that may have brought them together, he loved her with all his heart and he had already decided that he always would… all he really wanted was to make her happy.

He sat down gently on the edge of the bed, still watching her… he never liked to wake her up, she looked so peaceful in her sleep… like an angel. He brought up a hand and gently moved a stray hair away from her face, smiling quietly to himself as she wiggled slightly in her sleep.

He leaned over and placed a gently kiss on her forehead, whispering gently, "Abbey… Abigail… it's time to wake up sweetheart."

He watched her as she started to stir, opening her eyes and yawning as she turned to look at him… a smile spread across her face as she recognized his features…

"Oh… good morning Daddy, did I sleep very late today?"

**Hey! What did you think? I hope you liked it… tell me if you did in a review!**


	2. Still at School

**Hey everyone! Here's the next chapter… I know you all have a lot of questions about the mother of the baby and the relationship between Troy and Gabriella, etc. but I'm sorry to tell you that they won't all be answered in this chapter… they will, however, be answered in due time in the relevant chapter, so you'll just have to bare with me until I eventually explain everything! Sorry everyone! ;)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own HSM or any of the HSM characters mentioned in this story.**

CHAPTER 2: Still at School  


Troy smiled down at the four year old in front of him, "No sweetheart, you didn't sleep in too late, but you better get up now because you've got a big day of preschool ahead of you today!" said Troy enthusiastically and Abbey's eyes widened in joy as a large grin appeared on her face.

"Yay! I get to go to preschool today! I love preschool daddy!" cried Abbey, now jumping up and down on the bed.

"I know you do sweetheart…" said Troy, as he stood up and rummaged through Abbey's wardrobe for some suitable clothes.

"It's sooo much fun, daddy! I'm gonna paint and run around in circles and play and… and… draw and… lots of other things!" said Abbey still jumping on her bed. Troy turned to face her, holding a set of clothing and laughing.

"Wow! Really? You're going to do all that!" he asked copying her excitement. Abbey nodded vigorously, "Well it sounds like you're in for a busy day… we better go get you ready, eh?"

Abbey nodded again and Troy put her clothes down on the bed. He held out her hands for her and she jumped on him, Troy securing her in his arms…

"Well come on then Sprout!" Troy said, walking towards the bathroom and tickling her, making her squeal.

Twenty minutes later, Abbey was dressed, fed and raring to go and Troy had just finished packing her schoolbag. He looked over at her, smiling... she was absolutely adorable... she had dirty blonde hair, just like Troy and her features were a favourable mixture from both her parents.

"Okay Abster, I'm just gonna go shower and get dressed… why don't you watch some TV for awhile?" said Troy.

"Okay dad… but be quick 'coz I don't wanna be late for school!" replied Abbey wagging her finger at Troy, warningly.

Troy just laughed at her, pushing her gently towards the lounge room, "Would you just get in there Sprout! I promise I won't be long!"

True to his word, Troy was dressed and ready in less than 15 minutes and he and Abbey were out the door and in the car in another 5. He looked over at her as he drove, smiling at her as she sat up straight, staring excitedly out the window… _'She's so full of beans today!'_ Troy couldn't help chuckling to himself as he thought this… _'What am I saying? She's always full of beans! Just like her mother…' _Troy's smiled faded quickly as he thought of Abbey's mother… Rachel…_'She should be here with Abbey… she should be taking her to school, watching her grow up… and instead she's… she's… I don't even know what she's doing! ... probably off gallivanting somewhere with some underwear model, 'living her life'…_

Troy shook his head angrily at the very thought… 'living her life'… those had been her own words…

_Flashback_

"_Troy… I don't know if I can do this anymore…" said Rachel, as she sat on the couch in their apartment, watching Troy play with Abbey on a rug on the floor. Troy looked up at her, eyebrows furrowed in confusion._

"_Huh? What are you talking about?" he asked, looking back down at Abbey and making goo-goo noises at her, tickling her softly._

"_I mean this…! All of this… this apartment, this couch… all of this!" she replied waving her arms around._

_Troy sat up looking at her… he wasn't exactly sure where this was going… _

"_Rachel… I don't understand… you know that this is all we can afford right now… and plus it's close to the college and my work. What's the problem?"_

"_That's what I mean Troy! This whole 'family' thing! I can't handle it… I'm only 20… you're 21! We're both still in college for Christ sake! I'm too young to have a family… I want to be able to go out when I feel like it, do what I want, spend my money on clothes instead of diapers!"_

"_Well, what do you expect Rachel? You've got a baby now… 'we' have a baby now… I know we're still in college but we can handle it… it's not like I planned this either! I didn't plan for you to get pregnant… in fact I didn't even plan to sleep with you! It just happened… and now we gotta deal with it!"_

"_Yeah I know what I'm 'supposed' to do! Don't yell at me!" _

"_I'm not! You're yelling at me!"_

"_Look, whatever… the point is that I can't take it anymore… I tried, but I can't… I've thought about it a lot… and I think I need to go away for awhile… live 'my life'… you know?"_

"_No I don't know! 'Live your life?' This is your life now! Abbey's your life! What, you're just going to go and walk out on her… leave me to raise her on my own!"_

"_No! I wouldn't do that! I just need to go away for awhile… I'll be back… and anyway, you seem to be good at all this anyway, you can handle it…" said Rachel looking at him, Troy just eyed her incredulously, "Troy… this is not forever… just for now…"_

_Troy wanted to speak… to say something… anything… but no words came out. Instead he just sat on the floor with Abbey in silent shock… as Rachel grabbed her things and walked out the door… walked out on them…_

Troy sighed to himself… drumming his hands on the wheel… that had been around four years ago. Despite whatever Rachel had said, she hadn't come back… 'just for now' was starting to sound more like 'forever'. Troy had always known that he'd have a hard time with Rachel… he hadn't really felt anything beyond attraction for her, but he'd been willing to try for Abbey's sake… apparently, Rachel wasn't willing to do the same…

"Okay where here Abbey!" said Troy as he pulled up in front of the preschool.

He got out and took her inside. He signed her in and then kneeled down to pull her into a hug.

"Alright have fun at school today, okay? Paint me a nice picture, one that I can put with the other ones!" said Troy, pulling back to kiss her on the forehead.

"I will daddy! I'll paint you the best picture ever!" replied Abbey excitedly.

"Okay sweetheart… I got to go now or I'll be late for work… I'll miss you all day long!"

"I'll miss you too dad! Bye!" replied Abbey for skipping away to play with the other kids. She turned back towards him and waved, blowing him a kiss.

Troy smiled, waving back and walked out the door. On the way to work, Troy's mind wandered to the past… to college and to raising Abbey on his own. Troy had been forced to take another job so he could support both himself and Abbey through college. His parents had helped as well, but it was an expensive business, raising a child. Somehow he'd managed to get through though and now he was a math teacher at the same school where he'd gone through high school… he also coached the boy's basketball team.

Troy smiled at himself suddenly… he'd never really been very good at math to begin with… or at least that's what he'd thought… _before _he'd met Gabriella… Somehow, she managed to open Troy's eyes up to the world of math and he was suddenly able to pick it up straight away… he never became overly brilliant at it, but he became good enough to be able to teach it in high school. There was something about Gabriella… whenever she explained something to Troy he seemed to understand it right away… then again… he'd been so in love with her that he soaked up everything she'd ever said…

It hadn't been his first career choice though… Troy had always harbored dreams of playing college ball and perhaps earning a spot in the NBA or getting a job as an assistant coach, so he could one day coach a professional team... the appearance of Abbey in his life, had soon sent those dreams flying out the window though and Troy ended up deciding he'd better pick a more appropriate career... given his new priorities.

In any case… Troy loved his job… he felt a great sense of pride in teaching people to see math in a new light, just like he did… plus, he got to coach the boy's basketball team as well!

Troy smiled to himself as he pulled into the teacher's parking area… he really did have a good life now… he had a stable job, he had a beautiful daughter and he even owned his own home… or he would once he'd finished paying off the mortgage…

Everything in his life seemed to be just perfect and there really wasn't anything else he wanted… except, that is, for that one thing he almost always dreamed about… but that was never going to happen... it wasn't even a possibility… or was it?

At that same moment… less than ten blocks away… Gabriella also pulled into a parking space. She got out of the car and looked at the building in front of her… 'East Albuquerque Emergency Clinic'. Gabriella took a deep breath… _'Here I go…'_

**Alright… chapters over! I know there's not much Gabriella in this one, but there will be in the next… Please review, tell me what you think and ask me any questions you might have… I won't necessarily answer them all straight away, but they may give me ideas for future chapters! **


	3. What are you doing here?

**Okay here's the next chapter! Sorry it took awhile… I've gotten into this weird thing where I update my stories alternately, i.e. I update one and then the other, lol! Anyways I hope you all enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own HSM or any of the HSM characters featured in this fic.**

CHAPTER 3: What are you doing here?

Putting her hand to the railing on the front door, Gabriella firmly pushed against the door, opening it and stepping inside slowly… she felt a surreal feeling inside her… as if she'd just stepped into a whole new world… indeed, as she would soon find out… she practically had.

Gabriella found herself standing in something like a waiting room… it looked very clinical, just like a hospital waiting room would be expected to look like… white walls, carpeted floor, a few couches and chairs, old magazines stacked neatly on side tables and a small children's play area, consisting of a child-sized table with a box of assorted toys inside.

Gabriella couldn't help but feel a little intimidated by it all. She remembered from when she was a child that she'd always been afraid of the doctor's office and the hospital waiting room… and now here she was, years later, a fully qualified doctor, about to start work in a hospital, where she would have her very own doctor's office… and things still hadn't changed… she was terrified. There were pleasant paintings hung on the walls, as well as a few portraits of kind looking doctors and there were also a few plants too… Gabriella supposed they were all put there to form a 'welcoming atmosphere'… however she'd never felt more nervous.

"Gabriella Montez?" The sound of the voice snapped Gabriella out of her 'panic attack' and she turned to see a short blonde haired woman, probably late thirties, whom Gabriella supposed to be some kind of hospital secretary.

"Erm… yeah…" replied Gabriella nervously.

"Hi, Dr. Montez we were expecting you… my name is Susan and I'm one of the secretaries here," said Susan, holding out her hand for Gabriella to shake, "I'm supposed to bring you down to Dr. Davenport, he's the head doctor of this area of the hospital, the medical clinic… I believe you've already met him?"

Gabriella nodded her head vaguely in response… she was still trying to get her head around the fact that Susan had called her… _"Dr. Montez… it sounds so bizarre! I can't believe I'm actually a doctor!"_

"Okay great! Well just follow me and I'll take you straight to him!" said Susan smiling, before turning around and walking down the hall.

Gabriella followed her down to the end of the hall, past several closed doors with various labels, signifying the name of the doctors occupying each room…

"That's the office of the doctor you're replacing so you will be using that one for the time being…" said Susan, pointing at a door without a label as they walked past it. Gabriella was too much in shock to say anything, so she just nodded.

They soon arrived at a door labeled 'Dr. Davenport' and Susan rapped the door firmly. Gabriella waited anxiously, feeling a mixture of nerves and excitement. Presently the door opened, revealing a rather tall looking man, probably early sixties, with glasses and a kindly face. He smiled down at her in a friendly manner and Gabriella smiled back, feeling herself relax slightly.

"Ah! Hello Susan… and Gabriella, it's nice to see you again," said Dr. Davenport, extending out his hand. Gabriella took it, shaking it as firmly as she could. He turned back to Susan saying, "Thank you Susan… I think I can take her from here."

Susan merely nodded, flashing Gabriella an encouraging smile, before turning to walk back down the hall. Dr. Davenport turned back to face Gabriella.

"Well Gabriella… I'd just like to be the first to welcome you to this hospital and I'm sure that you will make an outstanding contribution to this ward," said Dr. Davenport.

"Thank you Dr. Davenport… I'm happy to be part of the team," replied Gabriella, finally regaining her voice.

"Please feel free to call me Harvey… my mother gave me that name… I might as well use it!" cried Harvey, causing Gabriella to laugh, "Well anyway, enough with the pleasantries, lets get down to business… are you all ready to get started?"

Gabriella nodded and Harvey smiled, walking off down the hall…

"This will be your office, Susan probably pointed it out to you before?" Gabriella nodded as Harvey opened the door and walked in, "Good, well it's really just a standard office… we supply you with a desk, a few chairs, basic medical supplies and a check-up bed **(A/N: sorry I don't know what it's actually called)** and a few reference books. You can supply more of your own, as well as bring in photos, etc. to personalize the room however you like… but be sure to keep it fairly simply and appropriate though."

Gabriella looked around the room… awed by the fact that it was actually _her _room… _her_ doctor's office.

"It also has a window, looking out to one of hospital gardens as you can see. You will have appointments with a few patients this afternoon… one of the secretaries will leave the details in your mail box attached to the door," continued Harvey walking over to the open door to indicate a thin open box attached to the front of the door, of which Gabriella somehow managed not to notice before.

"This afternoon…? What am I doing until then?" asked Gabriella curiously.

"Well as I told you during your interview, this medical centre also services the emergency ward and so all of my doctors, including you, have a commitment to do some time in that ward. In fact, because you are only a temporary replacement at the moment and also because you are new to the profession… I have organized for you to see fewer scheduled patients, but spend more time in the emergency ward, treating minor injuries and symptoms and the like… it'll be a great learning curve for you as you will get to have a lot of hands on action…" Harvey continued, walking out the door and motioning Gabriella to follow, "Now if you'll follow me, I'll show you to the emergency ward, where I'll give you a quick run through of our normal procedures… I assume you are pretty much up to speed with them anyway, since I sent you our procedure manuals?"

"Yes I studied all the manuals you sent me… I'm very familiar with the common procedure," replied Gabriella, keen to start on the right foot.

"Excellent! Well you will be staying in the emergency ward until around noon, then you may leave for lunch and when you return there will be ample time before you're first scheduled appointment for you to read over the details of your prospective patients."

Gabriella nodded again, a smile now on her face… she was excited to get started. She was eager to get into the action, to get into some hands on work.

It took Harvey about an hour to walk Gabriella through the emergency ward, briefly detailing various procedures that she must conform to, as well as introducing her to the various nurses for which she'd be working with and showing her the various apparatuses available for her usage. The morning went like a blur for Gabriella… actually the whole working day was like a blur… Gabriella was amazed at how much she learnt and experienced and she loved every minute of it.

Before she knew it, it was 5:15pm and her last patient was gone… she was just finishing some paperwork and was ready to go home.

Before going home however, Gabriella remembered that her mother had asked her to pick up some groceries for dinner, as she wanted to cook something special for Gabriella for finishing her first day of work. Gabriella smiled, privately rolling her eyes at herself as she thought about her mother's quirky celebration dinner plans… her mother had remarried before Gabriella had finished high school, his name was Robert Riley and he was the editor for the local newspaper.

Gabriella was getting hungry and tired, her first day had taken a lot out of her it seemed... and so Gabriella made an effort to try and get through the grocery shopping as quick as possible... inevitably because of her alternate agenda, Gabriella failed to adequately look where she was going and so, as she turned to go down another isle she collided with a motionless trolley, effectively pushing the trolley into its owner, who was knocked backwards into a stack of shelves. The shelves contained a number of tin cans, some of which fell on top of the person she had knocked over, possibly hurting him even more.

Gabriella's hands snapped up to cover her mouth as her eyes and mouth widened in horror at what she'd done. She ran over to her 'victim', kneeling down next to him, as he was now sitting against the shelves, holding his head.

"Oh my god…! I'm so-so sorry! Are you okay?" asked Gabriella, panicking.

"It… it's okay…" replied the man, groaning and still holding his head.

"Are you sure? I'm a doctor… let me at least check to see if you're okay…" insisted Gabriella, who proceeded to check his injuries.

"No… really it's oka-" started the man stopping mid-sentence as he raised his head and looked at her, his face echoing his surprise, "… Gabriella…?"

Gabriella looked up at the sound of her voice, "How did you kno- Troy!"

The two looked at each other, eyes wide with surprise.

"What are you doing here?" asked Gabriella confused.

"I was shopping… what else do you do in the supermarket?" replied Troy, shaking his head and standing up, "I live here in Albuquerque… what are you doing here?"

"I live here too… I moved back a couple of days ago…" said Gabriella, standing up as well… her heart was pounding… she hadn't seen or heard of Troy for five years… not since they'd broken up.

Troy's heart was pounding too… he couldn't believe he'd run into Gabriella of all people… the one person he couldn't get out of his mind… subconsciously, Troy smiled to himself, _"Ha! To think you thought the mere memory of Gabriella was dangerous… turns out, her real life self is too!"_

"Oh wow! Really? I can't believe I've run into you, of all people!" cried Troy, smiling at her… _"She's hardly changed at all! She's still as gorgeous as ever… in fact I think she might be even more so…" _Troy felt his breath quickening… even after five years, she still managed to take his breath away.

"I know! I can't believe it either!" she really couldn't… Gabriella always believed that she would never ever see Troy again, she thought he'd be off somewhere, living some great life and here he was back in Albuquerque… Gabriella frowned for a second… _"I wonder why he's living here in Albuquerque…"_

"This is so amazing! …Ho-how have you been?" asked Troy quietly, he hadn't seen or spoken to her in so long, "Yo-you became a doctor?"

"Um… yeah… I just graduated and now I have a job in the medical clinic of the hospital… it's only temporary but… it's a start…" replied Gabriella, "So how about you? What's the basketball superstar doing back here in Albuquerque?"

"Erm… I'm a school teacher now, at East High…" Gabriella raised her eyebrows at him, causing him to laugh, he continued sarcastically, "… yeah I know… I just loved it so much… I couldn't stay away! I missed Mrs. Darbus too much!"

Gabriella laughed at this, as did Troy… both were surprised at how easy it was to fall into a comfortable conversation… of course both were purposefully straying away from the topic of their relationship…

"Haha… um… so yeah, I coach the basketball team and I also teach math…" continued Troy.

"… _and… oh yeah, did I forget to mention I also have a four year old daughter?"_ thought Troy… but for some reason, he didn't say this out loud.

"Oh wow… math, eh? That's a bit of a surprise…" commented Gabriella with raised eyebrows.

"Well what can I say? I had a great tutor back in high school," replied Troy, causing Gabriella to laugh again… he smiled too, not wanting the conversation to end, but also remembering that they couldn't just stand in the isle talking forever, "Um… you know as much as I'd love to keep talking to you… we should probably change locations, I've got ice-cream in my trolley and I can see you do too… and you know, you probably don't want melted icecream so…"

"_He's trying to get rid of me!" _thought Gabriella, feeling slightly hurt… _"I was hoping we could be friends again… perhaps even mor- … NO! Just friends!"_

"Yeah… I guess I better get going…" replied Gabriella quietly, walking back over to her trolley, "It was nice seeing you again Troy… I guess I'll see you around…"

She turned her trolley to leave the isle but Troy called after her…

"Wait! Gabriella!" Gabriella turned to look back at him, waiting for him to continue, "What are you doing later? Do you want to have dinner and we can catch up some more?"

"Oh… I'd love too Tro… Shit!" cried Gabriella smacking herself in the forehead with her palm, "I completely forgot! I'm having dinner with mum and Rob tonight… mum's cooking a special dinner to celebrate my first working day as a doctor… shit…"

"Oh… well that's… okay…" replied Troy, a little disappointed, "Maybe next time?"

"Um… yeah…" answered Gabriella slowly. Suddenly an idea came to Gabriella's mind… "Actually Troy, why don't you join us? You always used to get along well with my mum and Rob anyway… it'll be just like old times…"

"Erm… are you sure…? Well… okay then! I'd love too…. Shit!" cried Troy, smacking himself in the head, just like Gabriella had done… "I completely forgot about Ab… erm… I mean… erm… my dog… Abraham… I… erm… I have to feed him…"

Troy shoved his hands in his pockets, looking at the ground, _"Stupid! Your dog! That's the best you can come up with! … why are you lying anyway? Why can't you just tell her the truth?"_

Gabriella looked at him confused, "Um… okay… well why don't you just go home and feed him first? Dinner won't be cooked for awhile anyway, and plus you've got your own shopping to put away…"

"Erm… yeah, good idea!" replied Troy, laughing nervously, "Wh-why didn't I think of that?"

"No idea… perhaps you just care a lot about your dog…" said Gabriella, walking her trolley towards the checkout… she really didn't care if her shopping was done or not, she had other things on her mind…

"Heh… yeah maybe…" said Troy, following her and murmuring to himself, "You have no idea…"

**Okay another chapter done… I'm kind of liking this story now… I know the first couple of chaps were a bit bland, but that was just an intro sort of thing, now the actual story is really going to start… so hopefully it'll pick up and I can make it interesting for you guys! Anyways, please read and review, tell me what you think! Lol, Gabriella still doesn't know about Abbey…! And there other things you won't find out until later either… :)**


	4. It's the Best Thing for Both of Us

**Hi everyone! Yes… it's true… I have finally updated! I'm so sorry it took me so long, but I've been busy and for some reason I just couldn't get this out… I was actually going to add more to this, but I think it's quite long enough already and it's about time I gave you all an update anyway… so I hope you like it! Don't forget to review, please!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own HSM or any of the HSM characters that may or may not be mentioned in this fic… I own none of them…**

CHAPTER 4: It's the Best Thing For Both of Us

"Gabriella? Is that you?" the sound of her mother's voice wafted through the house as Gabriella closed the door behind her, hands laden with shopping bags.

"Yeah mum… it's me... I went and bought some groceries like you asked me to," said Gabriella as she walked into the kitchen where her mum was chopping vegetables.

Gabriella walked over, giving her mum a quick peck on the cheek and put the shopping bags down on the bench.

"Oh, that's great honey… were you able to get everything I asked for?"

"Well… um… most of it…"

"What do you mean most of it? Were they sold out or something?"

"Erm… ye-no… they might have been… I'm not sure… I was… distracted…" answered Gabriella vaguely as she thought of Troy, her 'distraction'… She moved around the kitchen absentmindedly putting the shopping away.

Her mother stopped what she was doing and watched, eyebrows raised as Gabriella stuck ice-cream in the cupboard and carrots in the draw… she was about to put a bag of onions in the already, preheated oven when Maria, her mother, took hold of her shoulders.

"Gabriella! What's wrong with you? You're about to put onions in the oven!" Gabriella blinked, snapping out of her trance and turning to look at her surprised, "Gabriella… what do you mean you were distracted? Did something happen at work?"

"No, no… work was great, I learnt a lot!"

"Well then? What is it?" Maria pulled on Gabriella's arm as Gabriella moved towards the groceries again, "Don't even think about it! Get away from the shopping before you stick a can in the microwave and blow us all up! Tell me what happened to make you this way!"

Gabriella stood there, looking down as she twiddled her thumbs.

"Well… I… erm… I ran into someone in the grocery store… someone who I haven't seen for a really long time…"

"Ah I see…! I think I know where this is going… you mean someone like… Troy Bolton?" queried Maria as Gabriella looked at her surprised.

"Yeah… how'd you- Wait! You mean you knew that Troy lived here in Albuquerque!" asked Gabriella blinking in surprise.

"Yeah… he's been back for quite sometime… he's a teacher at the high school."

"Well, if you knew… why didn't you tell me? Is it just something you forgot to mention?"

"No… I didn't forget… it's just that… well you've never brought him up in conversation since… well since you two… err... split ways…" Maria was choosing her words carefully, "… and well given… you know… the situation…" Gabriella nodded her head, thinking she was referring to their break up, "… I didn't want to add to your stress… I wasn't sure how you'd react. Plus I figured you would run into him eventually so I though I might as well leave and let nature run its course."

"Oh… well I guess I see what you mean… I was pretty touchy when it came to the subject of Troy…"

"Yeah… you sure were… so how was it? Seeing Troy again? What do you think about hearing about his life now… What did you think about his new… erm… responsibilities?"

"Erm… it was actually surprisingly easy, seeing Troy again… you'd think it would have been awkward, given our past but it wasn't at all…" replied Gabriella, looking down and smiling… it had been very easy… almost like there had been no awkward past between them… "…it was just like catching up with a good friend that you hadn't seen in awhile and… picking up where you left off…"

"…you mean as good friends?"

"Yeah of course, what else would we pick back up as?" Maria raised an eyebrow at Gabriella in response to this and Gabriella looked away… immediately recognizing what her mother was saying with her eyes.

Realizing that Gabriella probably didn't have any intention in continuing the conversation in the direction it was going, Maria decided to change the subject, and ask something else that was on her mind about the whole situation.

"So Gabriella… how did you take the news of learning about Ab-" started Maria but was cut off by Rob as he walked down the hall.

"Hello, hello!" greeted Rob, cheerfully, as he walked past the kitchen door, heading down towards the den, probably to drop off some papers on his desk.

"It sounds like someone is happy…" commented Gabriella in amusement.

"Oh, you know that's what he's always like!"

"Yeah I know… he's a very happy guy… Troy used to say that he liked him because he enjoyed his constant energy…" mused Gabriella, the edges of her lips curling into a small smile.

Maria saw Gabriella's expression and smiled slightly to herself but remained silent thinking to herself… _So there 'is' something there after all… even after all this time…_

"Well anyway… speaking of Troy… we talked a bit in the supermarket… and I may have… invited him to dinner… so we could catch up some more…"

Maria raised her eyebrows at her daughter, "_May have…_? Or actually did? I have a feeling it may have been the latter, am I right?"

Gabriella nodded slowly, "Yeah, you're right… is that okay? I'm sorry… I should have asked first… it was kind of spur of the moment…"

"No, it's fine… you know I always liked Troy and Rob likes him too… it would have been better if you'd actually brought home _everything_ I'd asked for though! But I'm sure I can find something here…"

"Oh good… thanks mum…" Gabriella smiled as her mother went back to chopping vegetables, "Do you need any help with dinner or is it alright if I go up and take a shower?"

"No! It's fine… go and take a shower… I think I'll be better off on my own, with you're currently erring state of mind! Besides… Rob's here now… he can help me, can't you?" asked Maria, turning to Rob, who had just entered the room. He looked at her surprised as he pecked her on the cheek.

"Wow! I only just walked in and I've already been conscripted! Yeah of course I can help… what, you think you have a useless husband?" he asked her, raising an eyebrow.

"No… no never… my husband isn't useless at all! ... _You _though… I'm not so sure…"

"Oh! Aren't we the cheeky one today? Who's this other husband, you're hiding? I think my fist wants to have a word with him…" replied Rob, grabbing her waist and kissing her softly…

"Oh! Jealous are we? You know violence is never the answer…" Maria wrapped her arms around Rob, apparently they forgot Gabriella was still in the room.

"Erm… guys! I'm still here, you know!" cried Gabriella putting a hand over her eyes… she turned to walk out of the kitchen, yelling over her shoulder, "Obviously you two aren't used to having anyone else in the house anymore… I'm gonna leave you two, to it… I'll be upstairs if you want me for anything…"

"Okay, sweetie!" cried Maria as she and Rob separated.

She looked over at Rob who was looking over at the cupboard with a confused look…

"Erm… Hon? Why is the ice-cream sitting in the cupboard?" he took a step backwards, away from Maria and nearly tripped on the bag of onions that lay forgotten on the floor, "Ah! … And why are these onions just sitting here on the floor…? …? Hey… is that… is that a carrot poking out of the draw?"

Maria chuckled slightly, shaking her head slowly… "Gabriella ran into Troy at the grocery store and he's now coming for dinner…"

"Ohhh… I see…" Rob grinned as he nodded his head in understanding… "Well… this will certainly be an interesting evening… those two, together again… Hey… is he… uh… is he bringing…?"

"No idea…" replied Maria, shrugging her shoulders, "she's a beautiful child though… I wonder what Gabriella thinks of it all…"

---------------------------

Troy looked out the window of his car at the back wall of his garage… he'd been sitting there for at least ten minutes. He couldn't actually remember driving home… actually maybe he could, but he wasn't thinking about that… he was thinking of the utter serendipity that brought him such an unexpected meeting with his high school sweetheart.

"I just ran into Gabriella Montez at the supermarket!" he cried out loud, to no one in particular… his steering wheel perhaps… _Well… technically, she ran into me… but I still can't believe it! And now I'm having dinner with her! _

Troy ran a hand through his hair; he couldn't get the image of Gabriella out of his mind… _She's still gorgeous… maybe even more so then I remember… _Troy blinked twice… rubbing his eyes… he wondered if maybe he'd dreamt the whole thing… whether maybe the dreams he had when he was sleeping, where somehow now coming to him during the day as well…

Troy got out of his car, pulling out the few bags of groceries he had bought, he sighed… he knew he'd have to go back for more supplies tomorrow… _Never mind about tomorrow… what about tonight! Dinner with Gabriella Montez… _Troy had a sudden thought, and sighed slightly, _and her mother… and Rob…_

He walked through his house towards the kitchen and suddenly thought of Abbey as he walked past a photo of her, hanging on the wall… _Abbey! I almost forgot about Abbey… again! Pull yourself together Troy! You talk to Gabriella for 5 minutes and you're already losing your mind! _Abbey was at his parents place… Troy had to coach the boy's basketball team after school that day and so his mother had picked up Abbey from the preschool. _I'm sure my parents will be happy to take Abbey for the night… they love having her around… and I'm sure Abbey wouldn't mind either…_ Troy… still hadn't given much thought about the fact that Gabriella still didn't know of his daughter… but he didn't have much room left to think of it now, his mind was far too preoccupied with other things… he figured he'd just wait until the right time and tell her.

After putting the groceries away, he walked upstairs into Abbey's room, digging out some sleeping gear as well as clothes for the next day and any other items she might need, for example her toothbrush and Ted, a brown fluffy bear that her mother had sent to her for her first birthday… that had been the last time Rachel had had any contact with them…

Troy then took a shower, taking extra time to shave and wash thoroughly… he layered on his best aftershave and cologne, washing it off several times to start again as he became paranoid that he either applied too little or too much… _Pull yourself together man! It's only dinner!_ Next Troy headed for his wardrobe to find something to wear… as it would turn out… this ordeal took longer than his trip to the bathroom. Troy pulled out a number of shirt and pant combinations… tossing several failed options around the room, as he considered each one… _This one's too dressy… this one's not dressy enough! … This one just makes me look desperate… Oh great! Now I just look gay! Gah! This is hopeless! _Eventually he settled on a blue and white striped polo with dark jeans… he looked at himself in the mirror… pleased with his decision… _Great! Casual without looking like I tried too hard, but not too casual that I look like I'm about to spend the day sitting at home… _Troy grinned to himself, but then began to frown as a thought occurred to him…_ Oh god! You're starting to sound like a woman! Cut it out! Pull yourself together!_

_---------------------------------- _

Gabriella sat in her bedroom, absentmindedly brushing her slightly damp hair… she had showered longer than usual… mostly due to the fact that her mind had been elsewhere and so she kept forgetting whether she'd shampooed or conditioned her hair and so ended up washing it around 3 or 4 times with each… she also managed to reduce a full bar of a soap down to a small oval shaped slab, by simply working it into her hands while her mind replayed the afternoon's events.

Gabriella let her eyes roam all around her room, not really resting on anything in particular… she was in a daze… her right hand continued to wield the brush, making firm sweeping movements through her hair, but the motion was completely automatic… her mind was not in it at all… in fact, her mind was not even in the room, or the house, or anywhere in a 2 mile radius… it was the same place that it had been when she was in the shower, when she was down in the kitchen with her mother, and when she was driving home… her mind was still back in the supermarket, going over and over her meeting with Troy Bolton… she still couldn't believe that she had run into him… of all the people… _Troy Bolton… I haven't seen or heard of him in years and here I go and bump into him at the supermarket! Literally! And it wasn't awkward at all! You'd think it would have been seeing as we haven't spoken since… since the day we broke up… since the day I… broke us up…_

_Flashback_

_Gabriella felt heavy hearted as she walked resolutely down the corridor… she couldn't believe that she was really going to do this… she wasn't sure if she could really go through with it… but she knew it must be done… _

"_It's the best thing for both of us…" she whispered to herself, saying out loud the same thing she'd been telling herself ever since she'd arrived… The phrase had become a private mantra for her, an attempt to convince herself that she was making the right decision... doing the right thing…_

_Gabriella continued to walk the dormitory corridors of Duke University's West Campus, dodging past people, left and right… It was almost the end of May and the halls were busy with people moving back and forth, preparing to leave for the summer holidays. She past a trophy case, as she turned right into another corridor and her eyes immediately identified the familiar face of Troy Bolton, sitting among the Duke Basketball team in a current team photo. In the photo, Troy was smiling and Gabriella shut her eyes momentarily, her stomach clenching, as she felt a sudden sense of guilt and foreboding. All of a sudden, Gabriella wanted nothing more than to turn back around and leave the way she'd come… she didn't think she had the strength to do this… she never believed that she would ever be in this position… she just always believed that her and Troy would be together forever… that they'd stick together through thick and thin… that nothing would ever break their bond… _

_And why shouldn't she have thought this once? That's the way it had been in high school… so why shouldn't it still apply now? … In her heart, Gabriella knew why… because she could no longer bear to feel so alone… so empty… to have something, but to not really have it at all… the distance was too great… the contact too little…_

_All too soon for Gabriella… she found herself at Troy's dormitory door… and she gripped her shoulder bag tightly as she felt muscles tense and her stomach become unsettled… she couldn't bring herself to knock on the door… she couldn't bring herself to face what she was planning… Gabriella blinked back some tears that threatened at the back of her eyes, as she thought of Troy… sitting on the other side of the door… her arrival would be a surprise for him, she was sure… of course Troy was expecting to her, but not until much later… Gabriella had taken the opportunity to get an earlier flight because she didn't want to put it off any longer… she was supposed to be coming to stay with him a couple of days before they both left to go home to Albuquerque for the summer holidays…_

_Gabriella could feel herself starting to perspire… she was aware of how strange she must have looked to anyone passing by to just be standing there staring at a closed door… but she didn't have the courage to knock… truthfully she hadn't seen Troy since Christmas and now that she was here… she wasn't sure she could bare to face him… Gabriella could feel her resolve falling away; as she felt herself tense up further and further… she really didn't want to do this right now… Gabriella turned and started to walk back the way she had come, but she didn't get 5 meters before she heard the sound of a door opening behind her and turned to see Troy, smiling at her. Gabriella felt another pang of guilt at his expression and she tried to smile back, but found that she could not do so convincingly… thankfully, Troy didn't seem to notice…_

"_Gabriella! You came early! Why didn't you tell me?" asked Troy, grinning broadly as he walked towards her… "It's sooo good to see you… you wouldn't believe how much I've missed you…"_

_Troy reached out to her… wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her close… Gabriella felt herself tense noticeable from his touch and Troy let go at once, looking at her with worried eyes._

"_What's wrong? Are you okay?" he asked her gently, bringing a hand up to brush some hair out of her face, before resting his hand against the side of her face, caressing her cheek with his thumb._

_Gabriella closed her eyes slowly, enjoying the feel of Troy's hand there… for a second she forgot all about her reason for coming… she forgot all about her doubts and fears… all she could think of was Troy… standing there before her… Gabriella stepped forward and put her head to his chest in a warm embrace… she closed her eyes, breathing in his perfumed scent. Troy smiled, putting his arms around her and placing a gently kiss to the side of her head._

"_Aw… I missed you too Gabriella… this long distance thing is sooo hard to cope with sometimes… I just wish I was with you all the time…"_

_Gabriella squeezed her eyes shut tighter as he spoke, squeezing back the moisture that was forming there… she winced slightly as his words reminded her of what she had came to do and she pulled back from Troy, looking in his eyes._

"_Yeah I know Troy… it's really hard… too hard…" she whispered quietly… "Were you… alone… in your room, just then?"_

"_Um… yes…" he replied, a little surprised by her question. His expression soon became suggestive as another thought crossed his mind and he added, "…Why? Do you want to play a little… 'getting to know you' or something?"_

_Troy leaned down to kiss her, but Gabriella pulled away, blinking back the tears that continued to persist. Troy just looked at her, his forehead knitted in confusion._

"_Erm… no Troy… I-I actually wanted to talk… about us…" she replied _

"_Ohhh… this doesn't sound like it's going to be a good thing…" said Troy and he walked back towards his room, motioning Gabriella to follow._

_Gabriella walked into the room and shut the door behind her, while Troy sat down on his bed, looking confused and unsure... he saw the bag that she carried and couldn't help asking,_

"_Hey, is that all you brought with you? Just the shoulder bag? Where's all your stuff? Surely you don't plan to spend the whole summer vacation in Albuquerque with only a shoulder bag full of clothes…?"_

"_Well… no… I don't plan to spend the vacation in Albuquerque with only a shoulder bag full of clothes… because… I don't plan to spend the summer vacation in Albuquerque at all…"_

_Troy's eyes widened in surprise at her response… he hadn't expected that at all, and this was the first he'd heard of her changing plans…_

"_What? You're not spending the summer holidays in Albuquerque? But that's what we planned… why didn't you tell me this sooner…?"_

"_I'm sorry… I would have told you sooner, but this was just a recent decision…" said Gabriella, looking down at her hands… "… Taylor, Kelsi, Sharpay and I are spending the vacation, backpacking through Europe…"_

"_YOU'RE WHAT? You're backpacking through Europe? With Taylor, Kelsi and Sharpay?" cried Troy, incredulously, "How could you not share this with me? I thought we were going to spend the summer in Albuquerque together… we haven't seen each other in months and the first chance we get to spend some real time together you decide you're going to Europe!"_

_Gabriella continued to look down at her hands… the time was coming closer… she wasn't sure how she was going to tell him, but she did know that it would be very soon…_

"_I know Troy… and I'm sorry…" whispered Gabriella, "but… I… I just need time to… to think… to figure some things out…"_

_Troy looked at her perplexed… he couldn't see where this was all going._

"_To think? What's there to think about? What 'things' are you trying to figure out?"_

_Gabriella looked up from her hands… staring Troy straight in the eyes, as she whispered softly, "… Us…"_

_Troy's eyes widened at her answer, and he stared at her with a hard expression, as if trying to guess whether she was joking or not… _

"_W-wha-what? Wh-why do you need to think about us? What's wrong with us?"_

"_Troy… you just said it yourself… we haven't seen each other in months… not since Christmas… and even then it was only for a week-."_

"_Yeah but… that's because we've been busy… and if you've forgotten, we basically live on opposite sides of the country…!"_

"_Yeah I know… that's what I mean… I-I just don't know if I can take it anymore Troy… all this separation… we're so… far away… what do we have… really? We have a single letter, every couple of months or so… a few emails, when we can find the time…and phone calls that we can't afford! On top of that we can only see each other during breaks, and that's expensive as well… even just to visit our parents in Albuquerque is too expensive to do too often…"_

"_But there's nothing I can do about that, Gabriella! I can't… I can't just drop everything and visit you anytime I want!" cried Troy, jumping up and running a hand through his hair. He started to pace the room anxiously._

"_I know Troy! It… it just hurts, you know?" replied Gabriella, looking up at him… "It hurts, because we're together… but we might as well be apart… it's like I have you… but I don't… I'm lonely Troy… I feel lonely… I miss you all the time and it kills me to be so far away…"_

"_Well I miss you too Gabriella… more than you can know…" said Troy softly, grasping her shoulders and looking at her straight in the eyes, "If it hurts you so much to be apart… then why are you leaving when we can be together?"_

"_Because Troy… it's only temporary… and… and that's just not enough for me… I used to think it was… but it's not… I think I need to have you with me always… or not at all… it just hurts too much for it to be any other way…"_

_Troy stared at Gabriella, blinking back the tears that stung his eyes… his heart was beating wildly, he had a horrible feeling that she was trying to tell him something…_

"_What… what are you saying, Gabriella? Are… are you saying… that… you want to… take some time off…?" Troy asked quietly… shutting his eyes as he waited in dread for her answer._

"_Yeah… Troy… that's exactly what I'm saying… just let me go to Europe… I can clear my head… and we'll see where we go from there…"_

_Troy shut his eyes, stepping back and rubbing the bottom of his palms up to cover his eyes… he tried to hold back the flood of tears, but found that it was an impossible task, he knew what 'time off' meant... if she left, that would be the end of them._

"_No, no, no, no, no! Don't do this Gabriella… please! You don't have to go… we-we can work through this… together…" he said, pleading with her, "Gabriella… I love you! Please don't do this!"_

_Gabriella could feel her heart breaking… she didn't even attempt to stop the tears from flowing now… she felt like a part of her was dying inside, but she knew that this had to be the way… otherwise the rest of her would die instead. She shut her eyes, repeating her mantra inside her head, 'It's the best thing for both of us…'_

"_Troy… Troy… maybe… maybe some space will be good for us? I'll see a bit of the world and you… you can focus on you're basketball without having to worry about me… it doesn't feel right to me… you must feel so trapped to have a girlfriend on the other side of the country… despite whatever rumors that I hear, I know that you don't go out much and you don't really do much besides basketball… and that's not fair on you…" started Gabriella between her tears… she was going to say something else, but it hurt too much to even mention… regardless, Gabriella swallowed her pain and continued, "it's not fair for you Troy… to have to save yourself for me all the time… especially when I'm not around… you should go out… meet new people… new… new… wo-women…"_

_Troy looked up at her, alarmed by her suggestion…_

"_Wha-what? N-no way! There is no one else for me, Gabriella… you are my everything…" he choked; Troy ran a hand through his hair, wiping the tears from his eyes with his fists, "Wh-why are you doing this? Wh-why today of all days? I-I had a whole special night planned… I hired a… a… suit, and a-a limo… and I-I was going to take you out for dinner… and I was going to… I was going to… eugh! It doesn't matter anymore!"_

_Gabriella closed her eyes, as more tears flooded through… it hurt her so much to see Troy so upset… but didn't he see that this was the way she felt when they were apart? She couldn't take it anymore… Gabriella decided she better leave… better leave before she made things even worse._

"_I'm so sorry Troy… I-I should leave… maybe I'll see you when I get back…?"_

"_No, Gabriella! Don't leave! Please don't leave!" cried Troy, sinking to his knees as Gabriella reached for the doorknob… she was about to walk out the door, when suddenly Troy's mood changed, his frustration getting the better of him, "FINE! LEAVE! Get out already! … See you when you get back? Pfft! Fat chance of that! Just get out of my life! I don't want to ever see you again! I don't know what I… what I ever saw in you anyway! It's clear that you don't love me! You're just… you're just a selfish bitch! GET OUT!"_

_Gabriella felt her heart shatter at his words… she'd hurt him so much… and now he was hurting her… hurting her with words she knew he didn't mean, but which hurt none the less… Gabriella said nothing more… she merely looked at him sadly as he lay scrunched up on the floor in the fetal position, before turning and walking out the door, closing it after her before making her way out of the campus… saying to herself once more, "It's the best thing for both of us…"_

Gabriella was surprised to find that she had tears in her eyes, just remembering that day seemed to still be painful… it had quite possibly been the worst day of her life… or at least, the worst day of her relationship with Troy… the last one too, as it would happen. Despite what she might have said to get her friends off her back, Gabriella did not enjoy her trip to Europe at all… it had been a bad idea, but Taylor had suggested it as a way of getting over Troy… the only thing was that Gabriella hadn't really wanted to be over him… she was kind of hoping that there would be someway for them to work something out when she got back, but after the way she had so outstandingly broken his heart to pieces she just didn't feel she had the right to ask him for anything. It hadn't been that she didn't love Troy… she did… definitely more than she had ever loved another person… but, that just meant that the separation had been all the harder to bear… he had been enrolled at Duke while she at UCSF, they were on opposite sides of the country… and they really only got to be together during the summer…

After high school, Gabriella received a full academic scholarship to study at the University of California, San Francisco, while Troy earned a basketball scholarship… to Duke University in North Carolina. Even from the start Gabriella had had her doubts… she couldn't see how they could possibly make their relationship work when they were on opposite sides of the country… however Troy had persisted… promising that nothing would ever come between… that they could make it work… and he was right… at first. They were great… they talked on the phone every chance they got, they wrote letters, sent emails… they met back in Albuquerque for Christmas break and enjoyed a blissful Christmas and New Years… but things didn't stay so perfect for long…

Eventually, Gabriella got busier and busier with school… and Troy got busier and busier with basketball… and gradually… the phone calls became more scarce, especially as the phone bills started rising up and up… a letter once a week, soon became a letter once a month, then once every two months… and the emails they used to send at least once a day, reduced as well… and then came the rumors…

Gabriella had flown over to North Carolina, to be with Troy for Spring break because she knew that he was far too tied up in basketball to go anywhere… Troy, of course was over the moon that Gabriella came to visit… and the two spent as much time together as possible… however Troy was busy with basketball… training all day… most days… and Gabriella was forced to hang around the Duke campus, getting to know Troy's friends and chatting to other students… that's where she first started to hear the rumors… she had no idea where they came from… or who could possibly have started them… but over the next two weeks Gabriella heard more and more stories about how much of a bad boy Troy really was. She heard stories about all these girls he had apparently hooked up with… and the wild parties he regularly attended… at first… Gabriella pretended not to listen… refusing to believe that Troy would ever do such a thing to her… but as the stories continued and she started to hear more and more… she couldn't help the shadow of a doubt that echoed in her mind…

Regardless of the slight doubt, Gabriella couldn't bring herself to pursue the issue with Troy… simply telling herself that Troy would never do such a thing and that the stories were just rumors, made up by bored people... and so she left the matter unspoken of and went back to California… slight uncertainty still running through her brain… they spent the summer together, back in Albuquerque but the summer came and went faster than Gabriella could remember it.

When school went back, Gabriella became busier than ever, and often found she couldn't reply to Troy's calls or his emails… but he was patient… Gabriella often thought of the stories that she had heard, but she just couldn't bring herself to believe that Troy would ever cheat on her… in fact all the stories did for her, was enhance Troy's characteristics in her mind… the fact that he was so patient and still so loving, despite the fact he was so far away, was in some ways overwhelming for her to contemplate… and instead of feeling jealous the stories made her feel guilty… guilty because there was Troy, this wonderful, amazing guy, letting himself go to waste, all for her… it seemed wrong to her for him to waist his love on her, when she wasn't even there, it wasn't fair on him… how could he possibly be happy?

She didn't like the idea of Troy giving up himself for her like that… it wasn't fair on him, and she wasn't worth it anyway… over the months Gabriella felt herself become more and more depressed… she was finding it hard to imagine how they'd ever be able to be together for any sort of permanent time… and she was beginning to wonder whether… their whole relationship was worth all the effort. Gabriella had kept in contact with her friends while in college, and they knew the whole situation between her and Troy… they hadn't agreed with her initially, when she'd suggested that she break up with him, but when they realized how depressed the whole situation was making her Taylor suggested the big trip to Europe… and so she'd broken up with Troy or they'd had their 'break'… but of course when Gabriella came back, she didn't have the courage to go and see Troy, not after the way things had ended, and as it turned out… Troy never made any effort to see or contact her either… this hurt Gabriella immensely, but she couldn't blame him… she supposed he was still just hurt and angry with her, and there was nothing she could do about that… and so they'd ended up going off and living their own lives…

But now they had met again… by accident, and Gabriella just didn't know how she felt… she knew she felt a tingling in her stomach when they were talking in the supermarket but she also wasn't sure whether it was a good idea for them to start up anything now… especially when she'd ended things so badly the first time…

Gabriella's thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a sharp rap on the door.

"Gabriella?" came the voice of her mother… "I just thought I'd come warn you… Troy's here… he's down in the den, talking with Rob… why don't you go down and say hello?"

"Okay mum… thanks! I'll be right down…" replied Gabriella, but she remained where she was until she felt the soft thumps of her mother's feet on the stairs, as she descended down them one by one…

Gabriella stood up and looked herself up and down, in a full length mirror… she looked at her own reflection… eyeing it as if it were someone else entirely before taking a deep breath and whispering to herself quietly…

"Okay Gabriella… here we go…"

**Okay, chapter's over… what did you think? Was it okay? I wanted to include the actual dinner in this chapter but I put in the break up flashback so I could explain why they broke up in the first place and I also put a little drabble about the lead up to the break up… I don't know… I would really appreciate your opinion on this one everyone… so please review… :)**

**Oh and by the way… I don't seem to be receiving any alerts of any kind from fanfiction to my email address any longer… that includes review alerts and private messages… does anyone have any idea why this might be, or is anyone else experiencing the same problem? Just wondering…**


	5. Just Friends?

**Haha! I'm updating! Yay! Ok this is for all the people who have been waiting a long time for me to update! These are the peeps who have been _gently_ reminding me to update, lol! You know who you are! Oh and by the way… I just want to let you all know that I am officially changing the title of the story… because I recently found out that there's another HSM fic by the same name and I don't want anyone to get confused between this one and that one… coz that one's Ryella! Ew.. lol! No offence to Ryella fans! Ok.. this fic will now be called, 'Too Little, Too Late?' I'll repost chapter 1 and put a note about this there as well…**

**Disclaimer: No I do not own HSM or any of the HSM characters that I may mention… **

CHAPTER 5: Just Friends?

"So how's it going Troy? Still enjoying the life of a high school teacher?"

Troy sat in the den of Gabriella's house, still feeling slightly overwhelmed by the whole event.

"Um… yeah… I am… it's great you know? Everyday is a new challenge, it's always different," replied Troy, taking the drink that Rob held out for him, "You know teenagers… they're unpredictable."

"Hmmn… yeah, I'd imagine that would be the case… so how's the team going? Is there any chance of taking the championship? ... That would be a great story to run…"

"Uh… yeah… I think so… we have a good team this year… I think there's a good chance that we'll do well…" replied Troy, sipping his drink.

Truth be told, Troy was actually having a hard time concentrating on the conversation… his stomach was churning a little and he knew he was nervous, _Why are you nervous? It's just Gabriella! Relax man!_

Troy thought back to the conversation he had had with his father only a quarter of an hour ago…

_Flashback_

"_Whoa! Well don't you look snazzy tonight?" commented his father, Jack, as Troy walked into the living room. "What's the occasion? All dressed up to have a drink with your old man?"_

"_Uh… no… actually… I... uh… I've made plans for tonight… so I… uh… I was wondering if you could do me a favour?" asked Troy, rubbing the back of his neck._

_Jack eyed him for a second, scoping out Troy's uncomfortable demeanour, before letting his face split into a large grin…_

"_Haha… let me guess… you want your mother and I, to baby-sit Abbey while you go out on a hot date?" asked Jack, laughing as Troy shot him an uncomfortable glare._

"_It's not a date… well not really… it's just dinner…"_

"_Hmmn… dinner with a female? Sounds like a date to me!" replied Jack, before adding, "And it's about time too! You haven't gone on a proper date since that good-for-nothing Rachel left! Ok… who is she?"_

"_It's not a date! It's just dinner with an old friend…"_

"_An old friend? An old friend by the name of…?" prompted Jack, motioning for Troy to continue._

"_Uh… an old friend… by the name of… Gabriella…" mumbled Troy, almost incoherently._

"_Gabriella!" cried Jack, eyeing Troy with raised eyebrows, "You mean… Gabriella Montez…!"_

"_Uh… haha… yeah… that would be the one… I met her in the supermarket… she lives here in Albuquerque now… she's the new doctor at the emergency clinic… and now I'm going to her place to have dinner with her parents."_

"_Really? Wow…well that's great! Now you're going to date her again?"_

"_No!" replied Troy, a little too quickly, "No… we're just friends…"_

"_Friends? … Yeah sure…" said Jack sceptically, "Troy… I highly doubt that you and Gabriella could ever be… 'just friends'…" _

Troy couldn't get those words out of his head… he'd been dwelling on them ever since… '_I highly doubt that you and Gabriella could ever be… just friends' … What's that supposed to mean? _

Troy slowly snapped out of his daze… only just registering that Rob was still talking to him…

"Huh? Sorry… could you repeat that… I kind of spaced out just then… sorry…" said Troy smiling sheepishly.

"Haha… that's ok… I was just saying that it's pretty amazing… you and Gabriella meeting up in the supermarket like that."

"Yeah it is…" replied Troy vaguely, "It's… amazing…"

"What's amazing?" Troy felt his neck cramp painfully as he whipped his head around at the sound of the voice.

There stood Gabriella, Troy felt his throat constrict… he hadn't expected to see her there and now he felt like he couldn't breathe… though he didn't know why. It wasn't like she was overly dressed up, with only a very simple outfit, just a pair of black pants with a pale pink turtle neck... she had barely any make up on and her hair was down, Troy thought it looked a little damp, but Troy still thought she looked gorgeous…

"You are…" he breathed, without thinking.

Troy winced, blinking slowly as he realised what he'd just said… he felt his face flush, as he felt eyes on him. He looked over to see Rob and Gabriella staring at him dumbfounded. Rob had one eyebrow cocked and Gabriella blinked at him, looking unsure and confused.

"Wha-"

"Uh-uh… I… I mean… you are… you… uh… you scared me! Haha..." said Troy quickly, chuckling nervously… "Yo-you shouldn't creep up on people like that!"

Gabriella stared at him for a second, as if trying to read his mind… _That's not what you meant… what did you really mean? _

"Uh… okay then… uh… sorry for _scaring _you…"

"Haha… uh… that's ok…"

An awkward silence prevailed then… no one knowing what to say… each stuck in their own worlds… both Troy and Gabriella's hearts were beating hard and they both stared down at the floor… Rob just stood there, looking from one to the other and trying very hard not to laugh out loud... he found the whole situation highly amusing… _Hmmn… how awkward… haha... those two are so hopeless! _Shaking his head and smiling softly, Rob took a long swig of his drink before breaking the silence.

"Uh… Gabriella? Do you know how far off your mother is from finishing dinner? She said before that she was almost done… have you any more clue?"

"Oh… um, yeah she said she's about done…"

"Ah ok… well I might just go in and help her then… the table won't set itself after all!" laughed Rob, before walking out of the room… effectively leaving Troy and Gabriella to their awkward silence.

"Haha… uh… this is a little awkward… " mumbled Troy, scratching his head slowly. He looked over at her, making eye contact and flashing her a lopsided grin.

Gabriella looked back at him… chuckling softly and nodding her head in agreement.

"Haha… yes… very awkward…" she looked around, searching for something further to say… something, anything… "So um… I guess you had no trouble finding the place? Even after all this time?"

Troy laughed, grinning at her softly… "No way… I'd never forget the way… I… I couldn't… this was like a second home for me once… I could never forget where my home was… co-could you?"

Troy stared at her intently, and Gabriella stared back, feeling herself blush… her heart was beating and she felt shivers up her spine. She didn't know what to say to this… and she could tell by the look on Troy's face that he was waiting for her to respond… she opened her mouth to speak but…

"Ah… Troy… Gab- " started Maria, stopping as caught the expressions on their faces, "Oh… um… did I interrupt something?"

Gabriella broke her gaze with Troy, looking over at her mother quickly and responding… "N-no… no it's ok… what's the problem?"

"Uh… no problem… I just wanted to tell you that dinner is ready… there's only the four of us, so I thought we'd just eat in the kitchen, save the trouble of setting up the dining room… you don't mind do you Troy?"

"No of course not!" replied Troy, grinning. He looked over at Gabriella before adding, "It'll be just like old times! Right, Gabriella?"

Gabriella looked back at Troy… hesitating for a second before grinning and replying, "Yeah… definitely!"

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Ah there you two are! It's about time! I was just about to collapse from lack of nourishment!" cried Rob as Troy and Gabriella followed Maria into the kitchen.

"Oh Rob! Don't exaggerate! It hardly looks like you're undernourished anyway…" replied Maria, indicating his waistline with her hand.

"Aww… don't you like my six pack, honey?" asked Rob sticking out his chest and rubbing his 'abs'.

"Hah! The only _six pack_ that's likely to be in there is one filled with beer!"

"Would you two please stop it already? Have you forgotten that you have company here?" asked Gabriella, shaking her head and poking a thumb over at Troy.

"Gabriella! It's rude to point like that! Didn't I raise you right?"

Gabriella simply rolled her eyes at her mother, looking over to see Troy, trying hard to stifle his laughter.

"Ok… can we just get past this? Let's just have dinner, okay?" asked Gabriella, sighing and shaking her head.

"I'll second that motion! Let's eat! I've been working hard all day!" cried Rob, rubbing his hands together.

"Oh please yo-"

"Mum! Please don't start up again! Let's just… sit…"

They all seated themselves around a rectangular table, Rob and Maria on one side, and Troy and Gabriella on the other. When they were all seated Rob immediately reached for a bowl of mash potato, while Maria mumbled something about not yet saying grace, which Rob pointedly chose not to hear, looking up across the table to roll his eyes at Troy and Gabriella…

"Hey I saw that! Don't roll your eyes at me!" cried Maria.

"I didn't sweetheart! I was looking up briefly to thank God for granting me a treasure such as yourself…" replied Rob, winking at Troy and Gabriella, before leaning over to peck his wife on the lips.

Troy smiled in amusement at the two before looking over at Gabriella, who was shaking her head slowly… she looked over at him and as they made eye contact they both chuckled softly.

Troy leaned over, whispering in her ear, "I guess they haven't changed much, have they?"

"Nope… not for the better anyway…" replied Gabriella, chuckling slightly.

"Haha… I've missed these times… they were good times…" whispered Troy, smiling at her. Gabriella looked back at him and smiled too, she could feel her stomach tingling and she knew it wasn't hunger induced.

Rob looked up momentarily from his meal and caught the two of them still gazing at each other… turning to Maria and nudging her, he grinned and nodded his head towards the other two. The two of them watched the younger couple for a few seconds before chuckling softly to each other. Their laughter was apparently enough to snap Troy and Gabriella out of their trance, with both turning to look towards the older couple. They blushed as they saw the amused expressions on Rob and Maria's faces.

"Oh! Sorry… did we disturb your silent conversation? We're sorry about that... aren't we hon?" asked Rob turning to his wife and chuckling… drawing more flushed expressions from Troy and Gabriella.

"Oh shut up Rob… leave them alone!" replied Maria, trying not to laugh, "You two better start eating while there's still food left!"

"Haha… uh… yeah… good idea... we wouldn't want Rob to overstuff himself, right? He'd get sick and then there'd be no one to edit the daily paper!" laughed Troy, trying to cover his embarrassment.

"What are you talking about? Editing the paper is easy! I just give it to my assistant to edit and then look over and authorise it! I have a good assistant so there's not usually much to change… that's the beauty of being the boss! It's just all about appearance! Haha!"

"Ha! Rob… that's probably not something you should admit too loud, too often…" laughed Gabriella.

"Oh well… I'm only joking and I doubt you two are about to spread that around! After all I am, first and foremost a reporter! I could just dig up some scandalous info about your respective pasts!"

"Ho-oh! Is that a threat there Rob?" asked Troy grinning.

"Haha! Depends… do you want to try and call my bluff?" replied Rob, challenging Troy with his eyes.

"Hmmn… no thanks… I don't think I'll risk it!" laughed Troy, returning to his food.

They are in silence for a couple of minutes, each just focusing on their food.

"So um… how have you two been lately? Haven't run into youse for awhile…" asked Troy to Rob and Maria.

"Yeah good Troy, thanks for asking! I've been busy at the firm, and Rob's just been, you know, busy with the paper…" replied Maria, "I must say it's nice to have Gabriella living back at home though… I missed her terribly while she was away…"

"Yeah… I think I know how you must have felt…" responded Troy softly, looking over at Gabriella as he spoke.

Gabriella didn't respond… looking down and concentrating on her food instead. The table went silent again for a second… neither Rob nor Maria knowing quite how to respond. Presently Rob cleared his throat, breaking the silence that had prevailed.

"So Gabriella… you never said yet, how was your first day at the clinic?" asked Rob, serious for once.

"Oh um… yeah it was great! I learnt a lot… especially in the emergency ward! I won't go into details, since we're eating but yeah it was fascinating!" replied Gabriella smiling.

"So I guess we should all be calling you, Dr. Montez now?" asked Troy, grinning at her.

"Haha… I suppose you should be… but please don't, it sounds weird!" laughed Gabriella.

"Now, now Dr… no special treatment just because we're friends…" replied Troy, and Gabriella just laughed.

"If you start calling me Dr. then I'll start calling you Sir!" warned Gabriella.

"You wouldn't!"

"Oh I would! Just try me!" cried Gabriella and Troy laughed again.

"Hmmn… and they think _we're_ bad hun…" mumbled Rob quietly so only Maria could hear, causing her to chuckle softly. He then spoke a little louder, addressing Troy, "So Troy… how's that little one going? Uh… um… Arn… Atty… sorry, I can't remember… oh! Um… Abbey! That's it!"

Troy's eyes widened in horror at the question, his mind echoed just one word… _Shit!_ He immediately looked over at Gabriella trying to scope her reaction…

Gabriella looked up at Rob, confused… _Who's Abbey? _Her heart starting beating rapidly as a thought occurred to her… _A girlfriend? _

"Who's Abbey? Is that… is that your girlfriend Troy?" asked Gabriella, turning to Troy for an answer.

"Haha! Girlfriend!" laughed Rob, out loud… not registering the fact that Gabriella apparently didn't know… Maria, however… realised immediately and tried to shut him up, but… "She's not Troy's girlfriend! Abbey is Troy's dau-"

"Dog!" cut in Troy, loudly, he's heart beating like an insane jackhammer.

"What?" was the resounding reply from his three dinner companions…

Troy looked at them all, glancing from one to the other in a continuous circle, his mind registering two different sets of confused expressions.

"I thought your dog's name was Abraham?" asked Gabriella, breaking the silence.

"Uh… haha… yeah it-it is…" replied Troy, glancing at the matching, raised eyebrows of Rob and Maria, "Uh… Abbey, is my nickname for him!"

"Really? You gave your male dog, a female nickname?" asked Gabriella, perplexed.

"Uh… yeah… weird right?" responded Troy, chuckling nervously and scratching his head.

"Yeah… very… isn't that weird mum? Rob?" said Gabriella, turning to Rob and Maria.

Maria and Rob were silent for a moment, both glancing from Troy to Gabriella, as if trying to figure out whether or not to play along. Troy looked at them in an almost pleading manner, begging with his eyes.

"Ah… yeah… it's very weird… haha…" replied Rob, laughing half-heartedly and glancing at Maria.

"Um… yeah… it is… such a strange thing to do…"

"Hmmn… that's what I thought… your very strange… _Siiirrr…_" said Gabriella, playfully drawing out the _Sir_.

"Haha… yeah… uh… _Drrr,_" replied Troy.

There was a silence then, as each returned back to their food… or at least Gabriella returned to her food… Troy kind of just moved his food around his plate, avoiding the gaze of Rob and Maria, who were pointedly trying to make eye contact. They finished their meal in silence, Gabriella soon excusing herself to attend the ladies room… when she'd left, conversation suddenly exploded.

"What are you doing, Troy!" hissed Rob, trying to keep his voice down in case Gabriella heard.

"What were you thinking!" asked Maria, angrily, "You haven't told her!"

"Uh… no… not yet…" replied Troy, looking at them weakly, "I'm sorry! But I don't know what happened! I just didn't! I couldn't for some reason! I was about to mention Abbey but instead of telling her I blurted out the name Abraham and said it was my dog!"

"Do you have any idea how hurt she'll be if when she finds out!" whispered Maria, "Do you know how hurt she was after you two broke up! Today is the first time she's mentioned your name since you were together!"

"What do you mean, how much she was hurt? _She _broke up with me! I was hurt too!" cried Troy defensively, "And I know she'll be hurt… but what do you want me to do? Just come right out and say, 'Oh hey Gabriella! Did I forget to mention that I have a four year old daughter and she was conceived the day we broke up?' I don't think so, guys!"

"She was conceived the day you two broke up!" whispered Rob, confused, while Maria's eyes widened.

"Uh… yeah… long story… I'm not about to explain it to you…" replied Troy, running a hand through his hair distractedly.

"Well whatever… you can't keep this sort of thing a secret! You have to tell her!"

"I know… I know! And I will! I just need to find the right time! So could you two please not say anything about Abbey? Please? Not until I have a chance to tell her…"

"I can't lie to her! She's my daughter!"

"I'm not asking you to lie! Just don't bring it up… or be vague… please?" asked Troy, beseechingly.

"Ah! Fine! But you better tell her soon! Like tonight! This isn't a good way to start a relationship with someone, Troy… and it's an especially delicate situation between you and Gabriella, since you already have history…"

"Yeah… I'll be quiet too, but not for too long! If you don't tell her soon, I'll feel that I have no choice! Understand?" asked Maria sternly, "Rob's right… if you want this to work this time, you better be real careful how you go about it!"

"Want this to work? What're you talking about… we-we're just friends!" whispered Troy.

"Oh… come on now Troy! There's no way you and Gabriella could ever be 'just friends'!" cried Rob, causing Troy to feel a strong sense of déjà vu… _Why do people keep saying that? _

"Okay, okay! I will! I'll do it soon, I promise! I don't want to hurt her either!"

"You don't want to hurt who?" asked Gabriella, walking back into the room and causing all three of them to jump up in alarm. Gabriella looked at them, confused… "What's wrong with you guys? What've I missed here…?"

"Uh… nothing! Um… Rob was just giving me some advice on flea control for my dog…" said Troy quickly.

"Really? I didn't know Rob was such an expert!"

"Er… haha… well what can I say? I'm a man of many tricks and trades!" replied Rob, forcing out a laugh.

"Hmmn… okay… I guess it's true! You do learn something new everyday!" cried Gabriella brightly, receiving only half-grins from the others, "So who's up for desert! I'm pretty sure we have Neapolitan in the freezer… I remember that you especially liked the pink ice-cream Troy!"

"Haha… ah yeah… that's right! You used to tease me all the time, you meanie! But… uhm… I don't think I feel like dessert today… I'm stuffed from dinner and besides I got to get home… I got tests to mark, lessons to plan… the life of a teacher! Work, work, work!" joked Troy.

"Aw… you're going?" asked Gabriella, frowning a little, "Well okay… I guess you probably have a lot of work to do still… actually I do too, they gave me a ton of paper work to do for tomorrow…"

"Hmmn… yeah… I guess we're all busy… well anyway I enjoyed dinner, thank you!"

"Yeah… it was nice having you Troy…" replied Maria.

"Yeah… it was… like old times! And don't forget about that thing I told you! Do it soon before it's too late! You wouldn't want… _Abbey_… to be hurt too badly…" added Rob, staring at him pointedly.

"Ah… yeah okay… I'll do it, first chance I get…" responded Troy, waving, before turning to walk out of the room.

"Oh Troy! Wait! I'll see you out of the house!" cried Gabriella.

"Oh no… that's not necess-"

"Yes it is Troy!" spoke out Rob, giving him a hard look and Troy just nodded.

Troy and Gabriella moved in silence, neither speaking until they were at the front door… Troy opened it slowly and stepped out, before turning back to look at Gabriella, who was now leaning against the door frame.

"So… I had fun tonight… it was really nice…" said Gabriella softly.

"Yeah it was… just like old times…" agreed Troy, smiling at her… Gabriella smiled back and the two of them just continued to stare in silence.

"I miss the old times Troy…" whispered Gabriella and Troy stepped slowly towards her.

"Me too…" he replied softly… he was fairly close now, and Gabriella had to look up to meet his gaze.

Troy looked down at her… observing the way her loose hair framed her face in the same cute way as he remembered when they were together… she looked so young… as young and innocent as he'd ever known her and suddenly Troy knew that he _had_ to tell her… he couldn't bear to lie to her.

"Gabriella…" whispered Troy, using his hand to move a stray hair from her face…

Gabriella closed her eyes slowly, enjoying the feel of Troy's hand caressing her face… just like she remembered… she opened her eyes and stared up into his eyes… waiting for him to continue…

"Yes… Troy…?" she whispered, leaning in closer to him… so close that he could smell the sweet fragrance of her hair as well as feel slightly, her breath on his neck as she spoke…

Troy could feel his resolve melting away… just standing there, with her so close… his heart was pumping, he couldn't breathe and he was sure he could feel something doing back flips in his stomach… _I knew that steak tasted a bit raw… _He continued to look down at her… he had to tell her… he had too… but he wasn't sure he could… she just looked so innocent… so young… she looked exactly like the Gabriella he'd fallen in love with all those years ago…

Troy thought back to then… to when they were happy and in love… his mind flashed back through visions of the memories that had haunted him for the last 5 years… images of Gabriella's smiling face, pictures of them together… at parties… with friends… wearing ridiculous Christmas hats… images of her hugging him, kissing him, her hand in his… he smiled at the memory and brought a hand up to cup her cheek, his thumb caressing it softly.

Troy leaned down closer to her, his face inches from hers… his eyes, as well as hers, already half-closed, and lips slightly parted… he was about to close the gap when… Gabriella did it for him… taking him by surprise for just a second, before he deepened the kiss, pushing her up against the door… Gabriella pulled her hands up around his neck, pulling him in closer, while Troy put his hands down around her waist… running his hands up and down her sides… Gabriella ran her hands through his hair, trying to pull him, impossibly closer… Troy could feel his head spinning, as could Gabriella… it felt as if all the frustrations of their time apart had built up into this one, amazing, awe-inspiring kiss.

Reluctantly they eventually pulled apart… lips aching slightly, not that either of them noticed… Troy looked down at her, and Gabriella looked up at him… he put his hands up to cup her face and drew her into a softer kiss than before, smiling into it before pulling away. Neither spoke for several minutes… both overwhelmed by what had just taken place. Troy smiled down at her, still thinking back to before… _Why wasn't it always like this? What happened? _

Troy blinked as he snapped back to reality… pulling away slightly and asking the one thing that had played on his mind for the last 5 years.

"Why?" Gabriella looked up at him… surprised by his question and unsure of how to respond…

When she didn't respond, Troy continued, eyes stinging slightly, "We were happy… sure we were far apart, but that didn't mean I loved you any less! It hurt me to be so far away as well!"

"I know… I know that Troy… and I'm sorry…" she whispered in response, blinking back painful memories… "It's just… I co-couldn't take it anymore… we were talking less and less… and we were both so busy… I just thought it was the easiest thing to do…"

"Easiest doesn't mean best... Gabriella… we could've worked it out… that's what you do in a relationship… you work through your problems, together…"

"I know! I see that now! It was a stupid mistake! I wish I could take back that day… I wish we could've spent that summer together in Albuquerque… I was stupid to go off to Europe… I was running away… but I just felt so depressed… and I felt guilty because I thought you were missing out…" replied Gabriella, looking down… "I didn't want you to end up hating me… I didn't want you to start thinking that I'd held you back… and… and I didn't want you to end up cheating on me or something…"

Troy blinked, surprised by her answer, he put a hand under her chin and moved her to face him.

"Listen to me… I would never have done that… Gabriella, you were the best thing that ever happened to me… I wasn't missing all the girls I could've had or whatever else you're implying… the only thing I was missing was you…"

Gabriella looked up at Troy, noting the honesty in his eyes… she felt the tears welling up inside… she shut her eyes… cursing her stupidity… she suddenly felt a strong sense of guilt at what she must have put him through…

"I regretted what I did as soon as I left Troy… I wanted to come back to you… I wanted to take it all back… but I couldn't… I knew I'd hurt you badly and I just couldn't come back… I felt too guilty… I… I'm sorry…" whispered Gabriella, wiping the tears from her eyes, before looking back up at him, "Troy… I couldn't come back… you must understand that… but you could've come to me… why didn't you call? Or run after me… or… something!"

Troy didn't answer right away… _Why didn't I call?..._ more memories suddenly flooded into his brain… memories of that 'day', images of him sitting in his dorm room… of him looking down at an object in his hands… a small black box… his hands running his fingers along the edges as he studied it carefully, breathing deeply and feeling nervous… of him looking up and staring at a picture on his bedside table… a picture of Gabriella… then images of finding Gabriella outside… of seeing the serious look in her eyes… of her basically saying the things had never wanted to hear… of seeing her walk out… of him lying crumpled on the floor, clutching the little black box… him chucking it at the wall in anger… then there were images of the party later that night… the one that Chad made him attend… images of him downing drink after drink… of dancing with some girl… of dancing with another girl… of blacking out and then waking up naked, wrapped around a girl who he initial thought was Gabriella, but who he later found out to be Rachel…

Troy shut his eyes, shaking his head as he tried ridding himself of the memories… he brain flashed forward, to the guilt he felt for having a rebound girl… and then suddenly Troy remembered why he didn't call… he suddenly remembered learning of his pending child… of Abbey…

Troy blinked, springing back to the present… and suddenly he wished that the last 5 minutes had never happened… he wished he hadn't kissed Gabriella or she hadn't kissed him or whatever… he wished it hadn't happened because he suddenly remembered that Gabriella still didn't know he had a daughter… nor did she know how Abbey had come about…

Troy pulled away… stepping out of Gabriella's grasp and looking away…

"Maybe this isn't a good idea…" he whispered, shutting his eyes as he cursed inwardly… this was the one thing he'd always wanted and here he was giving it away…

"Wh-what! Wh-why!" asked Gabriella panicking slightly… what had she done? Why was he doing this?

"I'm sorry Gabriella… I'm not sure I'm ready… it's… it's been so long… we hardly know each other anymore…" continued Troy… regretting the words even as he said them, maybe before, "Look… I just don't… I don't want to complicate things too soon…"

Gabriella just looked at him, dumbfounded… _'I don't want to complicate things…'? Wha-…? Did you just share the same kiss I did? You don't think it's complicated already? _Gabriella didn't say this however… instead she said…

"Uh… uh… ok…"

"I'm sorry Gabriella… can… can we just be friends? Forget like this ever happened?" _Yeah right Troy! Just forget, like it's sooo easy… god! You're such a twat head sometimes… _Troy blinked, blocking out his thoughts before continuing, "Uh… I have to go… can I call you tomorrow?"

Gabriella didn't answer… she just nodded softly before looking away… Troy closed his eyes momentarily… he really hated himself at that moment… he felt like saying something… anything… _but what?_ … so instead he settled on nothing… he simply turned and walked away… he walked over to his car and didn't look back until he reached it… but by that time, Gabriella was already gone… the lights were off and the door was closed…

**Alright… I think you guys know the drill by now… Chapter is over… what do you think of it? Post a review and tell me what you think of it, please! See? I even asked nicely, now you have to :) Oh! btw... did you notice I left another box mystery? lmao! It seems to be my thing... lol! What do you think was in it?  
**


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